1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates generally to device identification, and, more particularly to methods for identifying bridge devices and systems thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer systems are coupled with several standard interface devices, such as hard disks, CD-ROM drives, floppy disk drives, and others for storing and managing data, and performing related applications. These standard interface devices couple to the computer systems via standard interfaces, such as ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment), ATAPI (AT Attachment Packet Interface), and SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) interfaces.
In computer systems, a standard interface device couples to a host controller via a bridge device. When a command for the standard interface to perform an action is generated, the command is transmitted to the bridge device by a software program. The bridge device then transforms the command into a specific format understood by the standard interface device, and transmits the command to the standard interface device. Upon receiving the command, the standard interface device performs the command, generates output information, and returns the output information to the host controller via the bridge device. Similarly, the bridge device must transform the output information into a format understood by the host controller.
Generally, the bridge devices must be tested to ensure corresponding functions, and respective manufacturers develop their software programs for the testing. Currently, two standard commands, “IDENTIFY DEVICE” and “IDENTIFY PACKET DEVICE” are provided to retrieve related information of standard interface devices coupled with the bridge devices, and identify the standard interface devices accordingly. However, no mechanism for identifying bridge devices is provided. In some cases, the software program developed by one manufacturer can be easily misappropriated by other manufacturers without authorization.